We discovered that a player death results in placing a big red X on the map where the kill took place that everyone can see. So, we left in a hurry. Too bad we couldn’t leave our prison tattoos behind.

  While we walked Trix studied Vamp.

  TRIX: This is great. It’s maybe the strongest skills I’ve seen in the game yet. It’s a wonder Ron wasn’t stronger.

  A block away from Bar Bituate, we ran into three more players.

  “Oh no!” said Brinkley – Level 2, holding up a glowing staff in defense, “They’ve come for us!” Brinkley looked like he was on his way for an audition with Nirvana. He had unkempt bleach blonde hair, stubble growth, a blue cardigan button-up sweater with a button missing, and old Chuck Taylors.

  Kiara – Level 4, took a step back, crouched and started to cast a spell. She was diminutive in stature, just barely clearing five feet. Her thick, red, curly hair stood straight out from her head, framing high cheekbones and a Greek nose. It looked like she’d been on her way to a workout when BioZone’s thugs picked her up. She wore a black sports bra, green yoga pants, and athletic shoes. A silver necklace with a charm of someone in a lotus pose hung around her neck.

  Hefting a centurion’s shield emblazoned with the names of all the songs on Pearl Jam’s album Ten, Diego — Level 3— took the point position. Like Brinkley, his fashion was somewhere on the hobo-Seattle Grunge continuum. He had silky piles of black ringlets Chris Cornell would have been jealous of, a plaid shirt, work pants, and black Doc Martens.

  Trix’s psy points dropped by a familiar amount, and she started talking. “Hey, guys, let’s talk this out. The kill back there? That was a mistake.”

  “She just cast manipulate!” Kiara cried out. “Don’t believe the blue-eyed witch’s lies!”

  WILL: We’ve got to get out of here before we have to kill more people.

  Trix’s psy points dropped again. “This won’t be a good fight. Just walk away.”

  “That was manipulate again!” warned Kiara.

  “And look at those bounties,” said Brinkley. “We’ll be doing everyone a favor. Advance, Diego!”

  A magic bolt shot out from behind the shield from Kiara and burst across my chest, dropping my health by a third.

  “Keep them back, guys,” said Kiara. “I can cast again soon.”

  I turned to run but something kept me from moving away.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  TRIX: Brinkley cast Bind on you.

  WILL: What?

  TRIX: It’s under the battle tab. How did you not know about that?

  WILL: Never mind that now. What do we do?

  The rest of Trix’s psy points dropped and so did Brinkley, with a scream, as he erupted in blue flame and died.

  TRIX: Bind started with a one-minute timer. Its got 53 seconds left.

  WILL: 53 seconds? I could be dead in 53 seconds.

  I used my Charge skill and thought I was going to break through the Bind spell, but was still stuck.

  TRIX: That was good! Do that again. The timer’s only got 30 seconds left.

  WILL: Okay!

  Another bolt smacked me. I would have fallen to the ground if Bind hadn’t held me up.

  Trix shot blue flame at Diego, but he ducked behind his big shield as the flame scorched its surface.

  Trix’s jumped in front of me as the Bind timer ran out, and grunted as she took a bolt to her chest.

  I tried to Charge again, but was still stuck.

  TRIX: Bind’s out! Go!

  The timer dropped to zero and I surged forward, a death grip on the hunting knife. Keel screamed for blood as Diego turned to look at me and lifted his shield too late. I cut Diego down with a spray of blood as laughter from the knife filled my ears.

  TRIX: One left.

  Nice work! You’ve turned into a psychopath! That’s two player kills in five minutes!

  Reward: I was going to give you another bobble-head doll and be done with it, but Dag is insisting that your murder spree is doing wonders for the channel and wants you to know that you’re doing BioZone proud.

  You got a silver loot box!

  You got a Dag pill!

  When Diego died, Vamp restored my hit points by half, and then Kiara hit me with another blast. It felt like someone heaved a scalding ten pound disc at my chest. The hunting knife was chanting now, louder, calling for another kill.

  Kiara started to back up, but Trix cast Bind on her.

  I was about to spring on Kiara when Trix caught my arm. I noticed her psy points were still at zero as she spoke to me, looking in my eyes. “You don’t want her blood on your hands, Will.”

  I looked at Trix, and saw the one inch square tattoo on her temple morph from a 3 to a 4. The knife’s chanting subsided. I inventoried it and felt calmer, though the knife’s rhythmic chant stuck with me.

  Two more red Xs had popped up on the map.

  “Are you gonna kill me too?” said Kiara, tears in her eyes.

  I looked down at my bloodied hands to see they were shaking. And I wished I was back in the station wagon with Mom and Kane. Instead, I was out on the green, running fast and sleek.

  “Actually we’re recruiting,” said Trix.

  Kiara looked at Trix, confused. “Those were my friends! You think I’m going to watch them die and then join a party with their killers?”

  “Yes,” said Trix. “I do. Because that’s what I did.”

  Kiara looked at me. “You’re not,” the words got caught in Kiara’s throat. “Not gonna kill me?”

  “No,” said Trix, as she ended the Bind spell, keeping her eyes on Kiara.

  Kiara knelt beside Diego and Brinkley and sobbed. “You told us not to fight. You didn’t really want to kill them, did you?”

  I did, though I didn’t tell Kiara that. I didn’t want to kill them at first, but I’d wanted to once Keel’s hunting knife was in my hands. I needed to get rid of that weapon more than I’d needed to kick Z—but I felt a strong urge to keep it.

  “No,” said Trix. “We didn’t want to fight. If you come with us, we’ll do our best to see that you make it out of this quadrant and far beyond.”

  “This game doesn’t give players a lot of choices, does it?” said Kiara, looking first at Trix’s tattooed temple and then mine.

  “No,” said Trix. “Hardly any.”

  “Then I’ll fight with you.”